Jeepers Creepers: Rise of the Creepalien
by Ali Wenstern
Summary: Every 23rd spring for 23 days it got to eat, making the Creeper the only hunter in Poho County. But, after a 23 year slumber, it must fight against a faceless beast of terror for the thing they both crave; humans.
1. The Dream

"Dad?" Jackie asked, walking into the barn.

He tried not to look at the creepy Bat that was nailed to the wall of the barn. His father was sitting in a chair, opposite from the Bat, next to a giant harpoon that he had made himself with the arrowhead left behind by the Bat aimed right over its heart.

Jack narrowed his eyes and didn't respond for a long time. "You better stop bringing kids in here to see that creature; only got a few more days."

"Dad, we killed that thing twenty three years ago, it's not coming back," Jackie said, trying to convince his father.

"Just consider this a precaution; if that thing does come back, I'm going to shoot this arrow right through its horrid, black heart."

Jackie sighed and walked to the chain nearby his father's chair. He gave it a pull, turning off the lights so that only the light from the fading sun lit the barn. Jack didn't move or say a word to his son, only resituated himself in his chair.

"'Night, dad," Jackie asked, not waiting for a reply.

He walked out and of the barn and made his way back to the small barn house next to the barn. He gave one last glance over his shoulder, barely able to see his father through the small crack he had left in the barn door. With another sigh, he stepped into the house and shut the door behind him.

Jack kept his gaze glued to the covered face of the Bat. He wasn't going to let the creature come back to live and terrorize more lives, take more sons from their fathers.

He was so focused on the Bat and his own thoughts that, at first, he didn't hear the soft sound of pitter-pattering feet. Eventually, he snapped out of his trance and stared around the darkening barn. The pitter-patter stopped for a moment before starting up again, this time closer. Jack didn't move, only his eyes gazed around the area of the barn, still unable to see anything.

Suddenly, something small with eight legs and a long tail flew through the air, connecting with Jack's face, wrapping its tail around Jack's throat, and suffocating him into unconsciousness.

* * *

Rebecca jumped and her eyes flew open. She was back in Brad's, her boyfriend's, cherry red Chevy pick-up truck.

"You okay sweetheart?" Brad asked, taking his eyes off the road for a second to glance at Rebecca.

"Yeah, I just had a bad dream," Rebecca replied.

"Talk to me."

"Well, there was this old man sitting in a chair. He had a big, huge, red, thing in front of him, pointing it at something, but I couldn't see what it was. Then, this spider thing flew at his face and its tail wrapped around his throat."

"Sounds like a bad dream to me," Brad said.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"I just mean that you shouldn't freak about it," Brad said, "You've had dreams like this before in the past, like that time you dreamed about the fire that killed you--,"

Brad cut off in mid-sentence, looking over at Rebecca again. He was about to say the fire that had killed her parents, but had stopped himself just in time.

Rebecca closed her eyes and smiled. "It's alright."

"Look, I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No, don't worry about it. You're probably right, though, it was stranger than what I usually dream, so it was probably just a bad dream."

Brad nodded and turned back to the road. Rebecca sighed and leaned her head against the window, watching the few trees that populated the Poho County fly by.


	2. First Encounter

"It's like I said, I doubt the 'Bat out of Hell' is real," Rebecca said as she stepped out of the pick-up truck.

A cold breeze blew by, blowing her wavy blonde hair into her light blue eyes. She shivered against the cold and wrapped her arms tightly around her body. She regretted wearing the mini-jean skirt with the thin white t-shirt.

"Babe, does it really matter?" Brad said, coming out on the driver's side and walking around over to Rebecca.

He towered over her with a height of 6'2'' and smiled down at her, his bright green eyes flashing. His short dark brown hair remained still as the wind continued to blow.

"You cold baby?" he asked. He was wearing a pair of white cargo pants and a black Beatles shirt with the image of the "Abbey Road" album cover.

"Yeah, aren't you?" Rebecca asked.

"Nah, I'm a hot-blood, remember?" he said, wrapping a warm arm around Rebecca's shoulders.

Rebecca sighed and studied the scenery around them. There was nothing for miles, only dusty grounds and the few sparse trees. The house that they had stopped at was an average brown two-story house that sat next to a green barn. Over the barn door sat a faded wooden sign with red letters that read "Bat out of Hell" and smaller black letters that read "1 Look $5" and "1 Photo $10".

"And it doesn't matter at all to me," Rebecca said in answer to Brad's earlier question, "But I don't want to spend five bucks to see a stuffed Halloween costume, nor do I want to see you disappointed when it turns out to be just that."

Brad just chuckled and steered Rebecca underneath the wooden sign towards the barn doors. He knocked on the door three times and waited. But no one came to the door.

"Maybe they're closed, it is late," Rebecca said, looking at the sky.

"Well that's just too damn bad, I drove all this way, I better see a Bat from Hell, even if it is just a Halloween costume!"

With that, Brad pushed the door open and stepped inside the dark barn. Inside, it was just a plain, ordinary barn, plus extra cobwebs and an extremely eerie feeling. The barn was empty. Brad and Rebecca stepped further in, but still saw no one.

"So, where's the Bat?" Rebecca asked, looking around.

"No clue," Brad replied, "Maybe they pack it up at night so no one would steal it."

"Who'd want to steal a Halloween costume?"

Brad didn't answer, something else caught his eye and he moved closer to study it better.

"What? You found the Bat?" Rebecca asked, following his gaze.

"I don't know," Brad replied, staring at the strange silhouette. "It looks like a person."

"Urgh," Rebecca huffed in aggravation, "if we could find a light switch in here, maybe we could see!"

Brad took another step forward and felt something brush his ear. He slapped at his ear and felt a piece of string with a metal knob. He grabbed it and gave it a pull, filling the barn room with light and illuminating the figure.

Rebecca screamed. It was the old man from her dream.

"It's him!" Rebecca said, "The man from my dream!"

"Are you sure?" Brad asked.

The man was sitting in front of a make-shift harpoon. The man had a look of horror on his face and as Brad moved around the harpoon he was able to see why; there was a gaping hole in the man's chest with his bones bent outward. Brad moved closer to get a better look and stepped on something slightly squishy. He lowered his gaze and saw that it was a giant spider-like creature with a long tail. The creature was curled in on itself, like a dead spider.

"Is that also what you saw in your dream?" Brad asked.

Rebecca looked at the creature and nodded. "It looks like something _broke_ out of his body!"

Just then, the faint sound of pitter-pattering could be heard, followed by an eerie hiss, causing both Brad and Rebecca to jump and spin around.

"I think now would be a good time to get out of here," Brad said.

"Good idea," Rebecca agreed and they walked swiftly toward the door.

However, something black and swift separated itself from the shadows and made its way towards Brad and Rebecca.

"Run!" Brad screamed.

They ran out through the barn doors and turned around to close them just as the creature came into view. It was black in color with an elongated head and no visible eyes. The creature opened its mouth to reveal a second mouth inside. The creature hissed and leapt to the swiftly closing door, but Brad managed to get it closed just as the creature slammed into it. The door shook as the creature slammed into it again and again. Brad and Rebecca slowly backed away from the shuddering door, eyes glued to the door in case the creature crashed through.

"What do you think that was?" Brad asked, still keeping his eyes glued to the door.

"I don't know, I didn't get that clear of a view, but it looked like some kind of alien," Rebecca said.

"Yeah, alien seems like a good word for it," Brad responded.

"Well then let's get out of here before the 'alien' breaks through and tries to kill us!"

"Good idea, I'll get the car started."

They both turned around at the same time to catch sight of the giant creature perched on the hood of the pick-up truck.


	3. Meeting for the First Time

It was no doubt in either of their minds that the creature standing before them was the Bat. It wore a long, tattered duster and a wide-brimmed Stetson hat. A small light above the barn door cast just enough light to illuminate the Bat's mottled green and brown skin.

Brad and Rebecca took a step backwards at the same time the Bat took a step forward off the truck and onto the ground. Suddenly, with a flick of its wrist, the Bat launched a small object that hurtled towards Brand and Rebecca with lethal force. But, instead of striking either one, the object whizzed by their heads and thudded into the barn door behind them. Looking over their shoulders, Brad and Rebecca saw that the object was a throwing star made out of bone and skin and that it was embedded in a spider-like creature similar to the one that had been at the foot of the old man's chair. The creature's finger-like appendages and tail continued to twitch in its final death throws.

They turned back to face the Bat just as it drew in a long breath, flaring its nostrils as well as a small hole on the bridge of its nose. The Bat's eyes rolled into the back of its head and licked its lips eagerly.

"What does that mean?" Rebecca whispered quietly to Brad.

Brad didn't answer as the Bat turned its gaze to the two of them and flashed a sharp toothed smile.

"It's bad for us," Brad said, basing his observation on the Bat's gleeful expression.

Suddenly, the Bat jumped and two large leathery wings furled out from its back. It swooped toward Brad and Rebecca, its hands outstretched.

The two fall back as the Bat flew towards them and tried to grab them. Suddenly, something slammed into the Bat's face with enough force to send it backwards into the truck, denting the hood. The Bat rolled off the hood, trying to fight with the thing on its face. It got to its feet slowly and clawed at the thing, moving around blindly as it did. As it moved into the small light above the barn door, the thing on its face was revealed to be just like the one by the old man and the one recently nailed to the door. Its spindly appendages were clutching the top of the Bat's head while its long tail was wrapped around the Bat's throat. Even as Brad and Rebecca watched, the creature's tail wound tighter around the Bat's throat and its struggles grew weaker as its air supply was completely cut off. The Bat suddenly fell to its knees, swayed, and then fell, face first, into the ground.

"Is it dead?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't know, and I don't want to stick around and find out," Brad said. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the barn door started rattling again. "And I don't want to wait until the alien gets out either."

He grabbed Rebecca's hand and took off to the truck. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and tried to jam the key into the key hole. But, in his haste, he missed the key hole and the keys clattered to the ground. Rebecca ducked down quickly and scooped the keys up. This time she managed to get the key into the key hole and get the door unlocked. She pulled the door open and pressed the unlocked button as she hopped into the seat. Once she was sitting and the door was closed, Brad ran around the back of the truck to avoid the Bat and opened the driver's side, hopping in.

"Get the car started," Rebecca screamed, throwing the keys at Brad while she kept her eyes glued to the buckling barn door.

However, no matter how hard Brad turned the key, the truck refused to start. "The Bat must have damaged the engine when he fell on it!"

He gave the key another twist and the engine sputtered before roaring into life. Just then, the barn door shattered and the alien came bursting out. In the middle of the barn light, the alien looked all the more horrifying. It turned its attention to the truck and let out a loud screech.

"Go! Go!" Rebecca screamed.

Brad gunned the engine without shifting into gear and the engine sputtered and stalled.

"Get it going!" Rebecca shouted.

"Stop shouting at me, you're not the only one freaking out here!"

The alien had moved from the barn door to within a few feet of the truck before Brad could get the truck started again. The alien jumped the remaining distance and crashed into the front of the truck. Its long claws slashed the truck's hood, leaving deep gouges. The alien's second mouth shot out of its mouth and smashed through the windshield, shattering the glass and raining shards of glass on Brad and Rebecca. Rebecca let out a scream as the only barrier between her and the monsters outside vanished.

Suddenly, the alien was pulled away from the truck and flung backwards, hitting the side of the barn. Brad and Rebecca leaned forward to see what had thrown the alien. They were both taken aback when they saw the Bat getting to its feet slowly, slightly groggy.

"I thought it was dead!" Rebecca cried frantically.

"Maybe it doesn't die," Brad said.

"That's impossible!"

Before Brad could respond, there was an angry hiss; the alien had gotten back to its feet and it was mad. However, the alien didn't attack the Bat; instead, it paced back and forth keeping its eyeless gaze glued to the Bat.

"Why isn't it attacking?" Rebecca whispered.

Brad only shook his head as the alien continued to pace. The Bat seemed just as confused as to why the alien refused to attack. It made several fake lunges in an attempt to get the alien to do something, but the alien only backed away. The Bat grunted in anger and pulled out two bone shuriken. The alien shrieked when it saw the shuriken and bolted into the darkness.

"Get us out of here!" Rebecca whispered, causing the Bat to turn and face the truck.

It bared its teeth and grabbed the front end of the truck, rocking it back and forth. Brad and Rebecca screamed loudly as they were jolted back and forth. Suddenly, the Bat let go of the truck and stepped back. It shuddered and rubbed a scaly hand over its chest, as if in pain. After a few seconds, the Bat relaxed and grabbed the truck again. But before it could do anything, it pulled back and clutched its chest again. This time, the Bat's eyes widened and its body shook. It dropped to its knees, threw its chest forward, and howled into the dark sky. Soon, Brad and Rebecca could see what was causing the Bat so much pain; a small bulge rose from the Bat's chest, moving from side to side. It looked as if something was alive inside the Bat's chest. There was a loud cracking sound and the bulge receded. A moment later, the Bat's chest exploded outward and something crawled out of the gaping hole. It was a small, eyeless creature with no arms, a long tail, and two tiny stubs on its back at the base of its head. The small creature hissed as it climbed out of the Bat's chest and a much louder hiss answered from the darkness.

With that, Brad forced the truck into reverse and slammed on the accelerator. The truck's tires spun before shooting the truck backwards, just as the alien reemerged from the darkness and moved to the baby in the Bat's chest.


	4. Dave and Ronny

Brad kept his foot pressed to the floor as the truck raced through the night. Rebecca clung to her seat, squeezing her eyes shut, but too afraid to tell Brad to slow down. Eventually, after several minutes of driving, a small light appeared in the distance.

"See that?" Brad asked.

Rebecca's eyes opened slowly and fixated on the light. "Yeah."

"There must be a house there, or at least a gas station. If we can reach there before day break, we might be safe."

"Might being the key word," Rebecca said.

Suddenly, the truck started to sputter and slow down.

"What just happened?!" Rebecca asked.

Brad looked down at the display behind the steering wheel at the skinny needle resting on the letter E. "Looks like we're out of gas."

"How could we run out of gas?!"

"I forgot to fill up before we headed out here in the first place," Brad replied.

"Are you insane?! Why would you leave the car with barely any gas?" Rebecca screamed frantically, "We're almost at the house, can't it keeping going?"

"No," Brad replied, trying to stay calm.

"But that Bat thing and alien are still out there!"

"No, that Bat is dead, remember? We don't have to worry--!"

"No, _you_ remember! You thought it couldn't die. I mean, they thought it was dead for how long when it was on display? And it's very much alive now! What if it doesn't die?!"

"Baby, look at me, nothing can survive something like that," Brad said, speaking of the alien that had burst from the Bat's chest.

"Yeah, but--," Rebecca tried to say.

Brad interrupted her by opening the door and stepping out of truck. "Let's focus on getting to that house," he said.

He walked around the front of the truck to open Rebecca's door and help her out. She had calmed down from her initial panic, but her body visibly shook.

"Calm down," Brad tried to comfort her, "If they are following us, they'll be long behind us. We'll get to that house first."

"Promise?" Rebecca asked.

Brad nodded and took Rebecca's hand. Rebecca smiled and squeezed Brad's hand until her shaking stopped. However, once they started walking, and the truck's headlights faded into the darkness, Rebecca's shaking returned and she started jumping at the slightest sound. Neither of them had a watch so they had no way of monitoring how long they've been walking. And since the house in the distance wasn't getting any bigger they had no idea how long or far they'd been walking.

Suddenly, their world became flooded with light. After spending so much time in the complete darkness, they could only stand and blink at the bright light.

"Can we help you kids?"

The bright light was the headlights of a faded brown pick-up truck. Inside the truck was an elderly looking man and a small child that looked to be around the age of five.

"Yes," Brad said, "We were trying to get to that house ahead, but our car ran out of gas so we had to walk."

"Ah, yes, we passed your truck about ten minutes ago. How long have you kids been walking, then?" the old man asked.

"We're not too sure, but it's been a while."

The old man didn't answer; he was staring at Rebecca who was wide-eyed and shaking. Now that Brad could see her in the light, he was shocked to see just how terrified she was.

"Is she alright?" the old man asked.

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just tired. We really could use a lift to that house."

The old man narrowed his eyes. "She's doesn't look too good. I think it'd be better if you let me drive you folks into town where you can get her to a hospital."

"Alright," Brad replied, opening the back door and crawling into the small back compartment.

Rebecca followed after him, almost robotically, the vacant expression still on her face.

"The name's Dave," the old man said as the truck started to move forward, "And this here's my grandson, Ronny."

"Brad," Brad responded, "And this is Rebecca."

"Why does she look like that?" Ronny asked, "Did something scare her?"

"Ronny! That's a very rude question; I want you to apologize," Dave said before Brad could make up an excuse for Rebecca.

"Sorry," Ronny said timidly, turning back to stare out the front windshield.

Brad wrapped his arm around Rebecca and tried to calm her shaking. Eventually, he pulled her close to him and rested her head on his shoulder, keeping her in a tight embrace. That seemed to help with her shakes and she eventually closed her eyes and fell asleep. Brad looked at the clock and saw that it was only 12:30; they still had a long way to go before the sun came up.

"We're coming up on the town," Dave said, breaking the silence.

Brad looked out through the windshield and saw the glow in the distance.

"How much longer?" Brad asked.

"Oh, I'd say about half an hour or so," Dave said. He glanced at Brad through his rear-view mirror, "You folks aren't from around here are you?"

"No sir, we're just driving through," Brad said.

"Well you picked a bad road to drive on, there's nothing here for miles; except that one house, I guess," Dave said.

"Are you from around here?"

"Born and raised," Dave said, "Ronny's the son of my boy. But he and his wife don't live on the farm anymore, or anywhere near it for that matter, Ronny's just here for a visit."

"So that means you must have heard of the Bat?" Brad asked on a whim.

Rebecca twitched in her sleep.

"The Bat? Are you talking about the Bat out of Hell attraction down at Jake's place?"

"Yeah."

"You went to go see it?"

"Yeah," Brad repeated.

"Grandpa won't let me go see it, he says that it's too scary for me," Ronny added.

"So you've seen it?" Brad asked Dave.

"Yup, in fact, I helped Jake put it up; we were good friends, you see. How's he been? I haven't been over there for a while."

"Oh, we didn't see him when we went," Brad lied.

Dave sighed. "Poor Jake, we used to be so close before the accident."

"What accident?"

"His youngest son, Billy, went missing."

"Huh?"

"Jake claims that he was having his boy hanging up scarecrows when the Bat swooped in and scooped up his son—"

"You mean that Halloween costume?"

"Yeah, only Jake claims that it was alive. That was about twenty three years ago. Ever since then he hasn't been right in the head. He made a makeshift harpoon out of some of his farming equipment. He'd keep that harpoon trained on the Bat costume, claiming that when it came back to life, he was going to kill it.

"His eldest son had enough sense in him to turn that thing into an attraction to get some extra cash. But Jake just sat and stared at it, all day and night."

"You said he killed it twenty three years ago?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, that's what he claimed."

Suddenly, there was a loud thud and the roof of the truck dented in. Dave slammed on the brakes, twisting the wheel, and spinning the car out of control. Something large with huge black wings soared in front of the truck as it was knocked off the roof. It unfurled its wings to catch itself before it crashed into the ground and let out an angry hiss.

"Jesus," Dave said, "That Bat really is real!"

Brad peered out from the back seat and stared at the creature through the front windshield just as the creature passed in front of the headlights and a smooth head caught the light.

"That's not the Bat," Brad said.


	5. The Alien

The creature flapping its giant wings in front of the pick-up truck defiantly wasn't the Bat; it had to be the creature born from the Bat. It looked just like the alien with a black body, eyeless face, and long head. The only similarity between this alien and the Bat was the giant wing span-black instead of brown.

"Grandpa?" Ronny asked in a panicked whisper.

"Be quiet, son," Dave said quietly as he slowly lifted his foot of the brake pedal and pressed gently on the gas, turning the wheel as he did.

The truck inched forward with a groan, turning away from the alien. As the truck started to move, Brad looked down in his arms and saw, to his slight shock, that Rebecca had woken up and had her eyes on the alien. Her mouth was open in a perfect "O" shape and she seemed to be gasping for breath; her chest heaved up and down, but barely any air passed through her lips.

"Y-you promised it wouldn't f-find us," Rebecca said in barely a whisper.

Brad opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a horrible screech. The flying alien was on the move and heading straight for the truck. Dave's eyes widened and he slammed on the accelerator, the truck lurching forward. There was a brief pause as the truck and alien launched toward each other before they slammed into each other. There was the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass and Brad covered his head in his hands as shards of glass fell onto him, a large chunk landing in his lap. The truck's engine revved as Dave's foot pressed down hard on the accelerator. Instead of reaching for either Dave or Ronny, who were closer, the alien went after Brad and Rebecca. Brad grabbed the shard of glass and jabbed at the alien. The glass jammed into the alien's head and Brad twisted and ripped it out quickly. He dropped the shard as blood oozed from the small hole in the alien's head, missing Brad and hitting the floor of the truck. There was a loud sizzling sound as the blood began to erode a hole in the floor. Brad stared down at the hole in shock, glad that it had missed him. His head shot up as the alien screeched and its body twisted, its barbed tail slamming into the roof of the truck, ripping it apart. Dave slammed on the breaks then, and the alien was launched from the car where it crashed into the ground.

For a while, everyone was too afraid to move, they were staring at the body a short distance away, each hoping it wouldn't move. When its body twitched suddenly, Dave's foot came down hard on the accelerator and the truck's tires screeched as it tore away from the alien.

"What the hell was that?" Dave asked.

"Some sort of alien offspring that was born from the Bat," Brad said.

"Born?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, then we better hurry into town as fast as we can," Dave said.

Brad nodded and looked down at Rebecca. She was now looking up at the gaping hole in the roof, her eyes glassy.

"It'll be okay," Brad said, gently kissing Rebecca's forehead.

Rebecca looked down to stare at him, but Brad could tell that she wasn't all there; if she had been alright, she would be smiling and there would be that twinkle in her eye that he loved.

"Is that why she's so scared?"

Brad looked up to see Ronny looking back at him from behind the front seat. The young boy was looking at him with a look of fear of his own.

"Yeah, that's what scared her," Brad said.

"She'll be okay, won't she?" Ronny asked.

"I hope so."

They all fell into silence with only the sound of the engine to break the silence. Brad tightened his grip on Rebecca, but she didn't respond. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she started gasping for breath.

"Rebecca?" Brad asked.

She pointed a figure to the sky and Brad slowly followed her gaze. What he saw made his heart thud loudly in his chest. The alien was flying directly over the truck, looking down with an eyeless face, taking Brad aback when he realized the wound he had given it only minutes before was completely healed. Its wings were flapping slowly and its tail moved back and forth, acting as a rudder and steering its course.

"Step on it!" Brad shouted to Dave.

Dave's foot slammed down hard on the accelerator and the engine roared. The alien screeched and folded its wings close to its body. It dropped like a torpedo, racing toward the speeding truck. Then, the alien slammed into the torn roof, its claws thrashing and tearing, trying to get to the people inside. Rebecca screamed and dropped down to the floor of the truck. Brad grabbed the nearest object, an umbrella, and started beating at the alien's hands. The alien hissed in anger and its tail crashed through the back window, aiming for Brad. Brad armed himself with the umbrella, but the alien's tail just tore it to shreds. Brad ducked his head as the tail swung at him directly, but the attack never came.

Suddenly, the air was filled with the sounds of screams and screeching.

"Grandpa!"

Brad opened his eyes and looked up to see the alien flapping its wings and dragging its victim into the sky.

"Grandpa!" Ronny shouted again as he clambered out of the ruins of the car, a look of panic on his face.

"Ronny!"

Brad opened his door and scrambled out after the young boy. Ronny was running after the alien, holding his arms up, as if to grab his grandfather back from the alien. Brad was momentarily worried about leaving Rebecca, but she hadn't moved from the spot on the floor so he left her so he could run and scoop up Ronny. The boy kicked and twisted, trying to break free of Brad's grip, still in the grip of terror.

"Relax, kid, I'm not going to hurt you."

Ronny eventually calmed down and went limp in Brad's arms. His eyes were glued to the vanishing alien as it carried his grandfather away.

Suddenly, from behind Brad, a horrible scream rose up in the air, Brad spun around, to see Rebecca standing outside the car, pointing to the sky, her eyes wild with fear. With dread, Brad slowly raised his eyes to the sky. A flying creature was getting larger at a startling rate, heading straight for the little group. The creature was coming in the opposite direction the alien had just flown off in, so it could only be one thing.

"It's the Bat!" Rebecca screamed.

Brad jumped forward and grabbed Rebecca's hand, still outstretched and pointing, and hauled her to her feet. She swayed forward, threatening to fall back down. Brad tried to support her, but he only had one free hand; Ronny was still clutched to his chest.

"Rebecca, snap out of it!" Brad said.

Rebecca didn't respond, only continued to sway.

"Please, Rebecca, you need to help me protect Ronny!"

Rebecca blinked several times and it was like a veil lifted from her eyes.

"Give him to me," she said.

Brad stared speechless at Rebecca for several moments; he didn't think that would work.

"Are you--?"

"Just do it!" Rebecca snapped, back to her old self, "We don't have time to argue."

Brad slowly handed Ronny over to Rebecca. The kid was so terrified that he didn't say anything, only wrapped his arm around Rebecca's neck and his legs around her waist. In the short time they spent transferring Ronny, the Bat had gotten closer. It was now more than just a flying dot.

"What do we do now?" Rebecca asked.

"We get help." Brad said.

He looked around and sighed with relief when he saw that the town wasn't that far off, and that the sun had started to rise. He took Rebecca's hand and lead her, at a hurried pace, toward the light of the town.


	6. Help

Brad and Rebecca stepped up to the door of the small diner just as the sun appeared. Looking over his shoulder, Brad was relieved to see that Rebecca was still calm; having not returned to her petrified state. Ronny was still in her arms, his body limp. The stress from the night was too much for such a young boy, he was sound asleep in Rebecca's arms. The Bat was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd it go?" Brad asked.

"I don't know, it was coming toward us," Rebecca said, "but it veered off toward the mountains. Maybe it's nocturnal."

"Let's hope," Brad said.

Brad opened the diner door and stepped inside. It wasn't overly crowded; only a few booths were full. Brad found a quiet little corner where they could sit and he led Rebecca toward it. Rebecca slid into the booth and nudged Ronny gently, waking him up. He looked up at her groggily.

"Are you hungry?" Rebecca asked. Ronny nodded his head. "What do you want?"

"Pancakes," Ronny said.

"Alright," Rebecca said.

"Order an omelet for me, please," Brad said, getting to his feet.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to call the sheriff, tell him what happened."

"He won't believe you."

"We'll see," Brad said just as the waitress came up.

Rebecca ordered pancakes for Ronny, an omelet for Brad, and scrambled eggs and coffee for herself. The waitress wrote everything down before turning and walking back to the kitchen. Rebecca searched for a bathroom and, once she found it, led Ronny to it to clean the dirt off his face. Ronny's eyes were wide and fearful and he walked with a nervous pace. Rebecca wetted a paper towel and started to dab at Ronny's face, wiping way the grime and tear stains that had covered his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked once she was done.

"It took Grandpa," Ronny said in a terrified whisper.

"I know," Rebecca said.

"Will it come for us?"

"I don't know, Ronny, I don't know."

"Please don't let it get us."

"I won't. And I'll make a promise to you: I won't let either one of those things hurt you, alright?"

Ronny nodded his head slowly, but he was still traumatized. Rebecca sighed and picked him up, carrying him out of the bathroom and back to the booth. The waitress had already come by and had put the food on the table. Rebecca sat down and took a sip of coffee, letting the hot liquid scald her tongue. Ronny immediately reached for the fork and knife and began taking huge pieces of syrup drenched pancakes and shoving them into his mouth. Rebecca smiled as she nibbled on her eggs; not even an attack by a flying alien could lull a boy's appetite. She looked around for Brad and saw him standing by a phone booth. By the look on his face, he was having some difficulty convincing the cops of his story.

"No! Listen, this isn't a hoax!" Brad said, his voice rising, "I'm telling you, we were attacked and the thing carried someone off!"

There was a pause.

"I'm telling the truth!" Brad said, "No, I don't want to be put on hold!"

Another pause.

"Alright, fine, fuck you then!"

Brad slammed the phone down on the receiver and stormed over to the booth.

"Brad?" Rebecca asked.

Brad didn't answer, only stabbed at his eggs with great force and jamming them into his mouth. Rebecca looked around to see that the rest of the diner was looking over at them with strange looks on their face. She sighed and ignored them, turning back to her eggs.

When they had finished, Brad slammed a few bills down on the table and stormed out of the diner. Rebecca and Ronny followed behind more slowly and found Brad pacing back and forth on the front porch.

"What do you want to do?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't know, the cops think I'm just playing some kind of joke!" Brad said, still pacing.

"Well, we should decide something,"

"I don't know, alright?! Now just get off my back!" Brad shouted.

Rebecca looked at him in shock and his expression softened. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry! I'm just so stressed out. I didn't mean to shout at you."

"It's alright, don't worry about it," Rebecca said.

"You're right, though, we do need to decide on something."

Before Rebecca could respond, they heard the sound of footsteps. They looked around and saw a young girl walking up to them. She had long black hair and dark blue eyes. She wore a black turtleneck, long-sleeved, shirt and jeans.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," Rebecca replied.

"I couldn't help overhearing your phone conversation," the girl said, "and I just wanted to let you know that I don't think you're crazy."

"You don't?" Rebecca asked.

"You described a creature with wings and scaly skin, right? Well my mother was taken by a creature similar to that."

"Really?" Brad asked.

"Yes, if you like I can take you back to my house," the girl said.

"Yes, we'd like that very much," Rebecca said.

"No, problem."

"Oh, by the way," Rebecca said, "My name is Rebecca and this is my boyfriend, Brad, and this is a friend of ours, Ronny."

"It's nice to meet you," the girl said, "My name is Heather Wenstern."


	7. In Trouble

The ride took so long that the sun had begun to set as Heather parked the car in front of a small, slightly old-fashioned whitewashed house with red shutters. There was a semi-tall picket fence that surrounded the house and a single tree that grew on the front lawn.

"Come on in," Heather said, getting out of the car and leading the way toward the house.

Ronny held his arms up above his head and Rebecca picked him up, following along Brad as he followed Heather.

Heather opened the front door and stepped inside, tossing her keys on the table by the door. "Timothy? David? I'm back!"

Brad and Rebecca looked at each other in shock; they didn't think there was anyone else living here.

"It's about time you got back!" A male voice from the other room said.

A second later, a tall young man came out bearing striking resemblance to Heather, followed by a young boy with blonde hair and light blue eyes. Rebecca knew the dark haired boy was the sibling of Heather, because of their resemblance, but she had to look hard at the blonde haired boy before she saw some similar features.

"Are you twins?" Rebecca asked, addressing Heather.

"Yes, this is my twin, Timothy, and our younger brother, David."

Timothy's eyes were dark and he glared at the group. "We sent you out to do a simple task, and you bring back guests?"

"They needed our help," Heather said, "They were attacked by that flying creature that took mom."

Timothy's eyes flickered over to Heather and a strange look crossed his eyes. Rebecca was shocked by the look as it quickly jumped back to a glare.

"Well, they can't stay here," David said, his voice was timid and soft, "We have a lot to deal with right now."

"Well, I thought it would be good for them to get a place to stay and work things out before heading on their way," Heather said, "they could stay in the spare bedroom."

Timothy sighed and crossed his arms across his chest. "Fine, they can stay."

"Come with me," Heather said and she lead the way down a narrow hallway. She opened a door at the end of the hallway and walked inside the room. There was a large, queen sized bed in the corner with dark red sheets, a wooden desk with mirror, a bookshelf, a couch, and a window overlooking the backyard.

"The couch is a foldout bed," Heather said, walking over to it, "Someone can sleep there and the others can share the bed."

"Thank you," Rebecca said.

"No problem, just let me know if you need anything else," Heather said and she walked out of the room.

"I'll take the couch," Brad said, "You and Ronny can have the bed."

"Are you going to bed now?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, probably," Brad said as he let out a yawn, "I'm beat."

"Me too," Rebecca said.

She moved to the bed, pulling the sheets back and setting Ronny down. He looked up at her with sleepy eyes as she tucked him under the sheets.

"Are we safe here?" he asked.

Rebecca paused and looked at Ronny. He was so terrified; this ordeal was just too much for a child his age. She smiled then, and stroked the top of Ronny's head.

"I don't know the answer to that, Ronny."

"You won't leave me, will you?"

"No, I'll be right here when you wake up," Rebecca said.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"And hope to die?"

Rebecca smiled. "And hope to die."

Ronny nodded after that and snuggled down into the sheets. His eyes were closed for only a second before his breathing became even and he started to snore lightly. Rebecca smiled and crawled in behind Ronny, wrapping an arm around him. She leaned her head against the headboard and closed her eyes.

"_Every 23__rd__ spring for 23 days it gets to eat."_

_Rebecca looked around. She was standing in a large cornfield. There wasn't a soul in sight, so she wondered how had spoken. Suddenly, a boy appeared in front of her. He was wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans._

"_Who are you?" Rebecca asked._

"_Darry," the boy replied._

_Darry shook his head._

"_Do you know about the Bat monster?"_

_Darry's appearance changed suddenly, he was shirtless, revealing a giant hole where his belly button used to be and his eyes were gone, all that was left were wide holes. Rebecca gasped and backed away._

"_He goes by the name of the Creeper. He's a demon that took on semi-human form. He sleeps for 23 years and awakens for 23 days with a ravenous hunger, wanting to eat only one thing."_

"_What does it eat?" Rebecca asked, already knowing the answer._

_Darry ignored her. "It uses its sense of smell to smell the fear in us, the more fear, the better we smell."_

"_But what does it eat?" Rebecca asked._

_"Us."_

"_How do you stop him?"_

"_You can't, there is no way to kill him."_

"_What do you mean there's no way to kill him?!"_

"_He uses the body parts he's devoured from his victims to replace his own. He can even replace his entire head."_

"_But there must be _something_ we can do to defeat him."_

"_Avoid him for 20 more days."_

_There was a loud screech and a black shadow swooped over Rebecca, Darry vanished, as did the rest of the scenery._

Rebecca's eyes snapped open and she looked around quickly, checking to make sure nothing was out of place. She sighed, she shouldn't get herself worked up over a little dream. She closed her eyes and tried to fall back to sleep, but, she heard the sound of the front door opening, followed by hushed voices. Her eyes snapped open and she snapped up when she realized that there was the sound of hissing along with the voices. Rebecca rose slowly, careful not to wake Ronny, and moved toward the door. She opened it a crack and peered out. Heather and her brothers were grouped closely together, their quiet voices barely reaching Rebecca's ears.

"We've got it under control, TJ," Timothy was saying.

The reply was an eerie hiss. Rebecca strained to see past the edge of the door that she had allowed herself to see through, she didn't want to open the door too wide because she didn't want them to see her, but she couldn't see who the mysterious TJ was.

"He says Mom begs to differ about our control of the situation," David said.

"No? Really?" Timothy said sarcastically, "You know, just because Heather and I don't understand them like you do doesn't mean you have to be a smart ass about it!"

"Oh shut up," Heather said, "You're acting like a little kid. And keep your voice down, we don't want our _guests_ waking up."

There was another hiss.

"Heather brought them here, thought they would make a nice contribution to the Hive," David said.

There was a hiss in reply and David turned to the siblings. "TJ says that we have to go now, so we need to make sure our guests stay unconscious for their trip back to the Hive."

There was another hiss and the creature making the noise stepped forward, finally coming into view. Rebecca had to hold back a gasp when she saw that the creature was another alien, different from the one before because of the four legs and brown color that it possessed, but an alien none the less. She shut the door quickly and quietly at this point and moved back into the room. She went to Brad and shook him awake. He opened his eyes groggily, but became alert when he saw the fear in Rebecca's eyes.

"We have to leave now! These siblings are somehow in league with the aliens."

Brad sat bolt upright at this point and moved to the window, opening it. Rebecca moved to Ronny and gently shook him awake. He looked up at her with tired eyes and Rebecca had to hide the fear in her eyes to keep from frightening him.

"We're leaving."

"Right now?" Ronny asked.

"Right now." Rebecca replied.

Ronny rubbed his eyes and held up his arms. Rebecca lifted him up from the bed and moved to the window.

"Brad?" Rebecca called out.

"Down here, it's not that far of a drop," he said, "There's a small storage unit that you can step down on."

Rebecca helped Ronny through the window first; Brad was waiting just underneath it to take a hold of him as Rebecca scrambled through. Once they were all out they made their way quickly toward the picket fence. Suddenly, however, a bright flood light lit up the area.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Brad and Rebecca spun around to see the siblings with the alien behind them standing on the front porch.

"They think they can run away," Timothy said.

"Well, then let's let them, I want to see if they can try to outrun a Runner," Heather said, "TJ?"

TJ hissed eagerly and walked out from around the siblings. He made his way slowly to the group. Ronny cried out and buried his face in Rebecca's shirt who was currently frozen to the spot in terror. Suddenly, the alien stopped and screeched in confusion, backing up.

"TJ? What's going on?" Heather asked.

David shoved past his siblings so that he was closer to TJ as the alien continued to screech and back up.

"He's definitely confused about something," David said.

"No shit? _What_?!" Timothy demanded.

"If he knew, he would have said it already," David retorted back.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I can't understand what he's saying in the first place, so forgive me for thinking that--!"

"Knock it off! Both of you! Why do you always have to fight like children?!" Heather interjected.

"Oh shut up, Heather, you don't get to tell me what to do! I'm the oldest, remember?!" Timothy snapped.

Before Heather could say something back there was a strange hissing sigh coming from within the darkness. Rebecca and Brad whirled back around, turning their backs on the alien in deeper fear for what was in the darkness. There was a pause before they heard the sound of footsteps getting louder. A clawed foot came into the circle of light before the rest of the creature followed.

"Well, well, well," Heather said from behind them, "And what have we here?"


	8. Misfortune

The Creeper growled at Heather, flashing sharp teeth.

"TJ, take out this distraction."

"You can't kill the Creeper," Rebecca said.

"Creeper, huh? Well, we'll see."

With that, TJ hissed and pounced, dodging around Brad and Rebecca and tackled the Creeper, sending the two of them rolling across the ground. The grisly scene was completely visible in the beam of the flood light. TJ was latched on the front of the Creeper, slashing and tearing with its claws. Eventually, TJ managed to pin the Creeper down underneath him and stood over him with a devilish grin. There was a pause and then a long, white object shot out of TJ's mouth and struck the Creeper in the head and broke out through the back of its head. The Creeper went limp and TJ stepped off it proudly.

"So much for not being able to kill it," Heather said with a wide grin.

"_Now_ can we get going?" David asked, "You know Mom doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Heather turned back to Rebecca and Brad. "Are you two going to come quietly?"

Rebecca and Brad looked at each other with grim looks; they were trapped.

"You might as well just come," Timothy said. He had a bored expression. "It would just be more painful otherwise."

"What are your plans?" Rebecca asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"What do you want from us?" Brad added.

Heather gave a dark grin. "We require the use of your bodies as vessels."

"TJ, just go and get this over with," Timothy said.

TJ hissed eagerly and started to move forward. But before he could attack, there was movement off to the side and everyone's eyes turned toward the figure.

"What the hell?" Timothy exclaimed.

The Creeper was getting slowly to its feet, slightly disoriented. Rebecca and Brad backed up slowly and away from both the alien and the Creeper.

"What's going on? How is that possible; that attack went right through his head," Heather said in shock.

"Run!" Brad shouted.

Rebecca felt Ronny's legs tighten around her and she held him more tightly as she turned and ran.

"Stop them!" Heather shouted.

There was a hiss and Rebecca glanced over her shoulder to see TJ following in hot pursuit, but he came to a sudden stop and started to back up, hissing. A shadow fell across Rebecca and she looked up and screamed. The Creeper's wings were fully extended and he was gliding above them. Rebecca could see straight through the hole TJ had made in the Creeper's head and right up to the night sky.

"Watch out!" she shouted.

Brad looked up just as the Creeper tucked its wings in tightly and dove. Rebecca closed her eyes, still running, and ducked. But the feeling of claws never came. Suddenly, there was a loud scream and she opened her eyes, looking up.

"Brad!"

Rebecca came to a skidding stop. Brad was kicking and punching, but the Creeper wouldn't relinquish its grip.

"Rebecca!" he shouted as the Creeper took him higher, "Protect Ronny! Don't let anything happen to him!"

Rebecca nodded her head, tears pouring down her cheeks. But she couldn't mourn for too long, as a hiss reminded her that TJ was still coming after her. She turned and ran toward the car, praying that the car keys were still in there. She went in straight from the driver's side, allowing Ronny to scramble into the passenger seat next to her, and she sighed with relief at the sight of the car keys still in the ignition. Slamming on the brake, she turned the car key. The engine groaned and sputtered before roaring to a start.

"Rebecca!" Ronny cried, pointing out through the front windshield.

Rebecca looked up to see TJ within inches of the car, and getting closer fast. She shifted the car into reverse and slammed on the accelerator. The car shot backwards, but TJ jumped and landed on the hood of the car. Ronny and Rebecca both screamed in terror as TJ dug his claws into the hood, tearing out large gouges.

"Hold on!" Rebecca cried.

She slammed on the accelerator harder and the car lurched back suddenly. TJ hissed and struggled to keep his grip. Rebecca quickly shifted into drive and shot forward. TJ hit the windshield, cracking it, and hissed again, digging deeper into the hood.

"Get the _fuck_ off!" Rebecca shouted, slamming hard on the brake.

The tires squealed in protest and TJ was flung off the front of the car. Rebecca quickly slammed on the gas and the car zoomed off.


	9. Attacked

"How're you holding up?" Rebecca asked.

Ronny didn't reply as he stared straight out through the window. Rebecca sighed, this was too much for a boy his age; she could hardly stand the stress of the recent events so she couldn't even imagine how much this was affecting Ronny.

"Hey, don't worry, I said I would keep you safe, and I always keep my promises," Rebecca said.

"Where are we going?" Ronny said.

"As far away as we can. We're just going to keep going and never stop until that thing goes back to sleep."

"How did you know that it sleeps?"

"I get strange dreams where I see things that are currently happening, or about to happen. The boy in my dreams, who had already been killed by the Creeper, told me that the Creeper sleeps for 23 years and eats for 23 days."

"What does it eat?"

Rebecca hesitated; she didn't want to scare Ronny.

"It eats us, doesn't it?" Ronny answered his own question.

There was really no point to lie now. "Yes, Ronny, it eats us."

"Is it going to eat Brad?"

Tears brimmed in Rebecca's eyes. "Probably."

"Does it want us too?"

"I don't know about you, but I think when it smelled me, it liked what it smelled."

"Don't let it get you, please!" Ronny begged.

"Don't worry, I won't."

They drove on from then in silence, through the day and until the sky started to darken again. As the sun started to sink behind the mountains, Rebecca started to feel groggy. Her eyes fluttered open and shut as she tried to steer the car. She glanced over at Ronny and saw that he was sound asleep. She sighed and pulled the car off to the side of the road and switched off the engine. The sudden silence rang in her ears as she was surrounded by the sudden darkness. She sighed and lead back against the headrest, closing her eyes. A second later she was sound asleep.

_Heather, Timothy, and David were standing in a straight line, facing something in the darkness._

"_They got away, well one of them was taken by the Creeper, the other two escaped in a car," Heather said._

"_And why haven't you gone after them?" A woman's voice rang out angrily._

"_Well we wanted to come and report to you first, and then we—"_

"_How dare you! How dare you allow them to escape!" the woman's voice thundered with fury._

"_We're sorry, Mom, we tried, but we—" Timothy tried to say._

"_Get out of my sight! And don't you _dare_ return until you've brought those humans!"_

Rebecca's eyes snapped open and she shot up in her seat, gripping the steering wheel tightly. She wondered what it was that had awakened her. It might have been the dream, but she could have sworn she had heard a noise. She sighed and leaned back, getting ready to fall asleep again when she saw something move. She jerked back up again and peered out through the windshield, but it was pitch black outside. Hand shaking slightly, she reached up to the key in the ignition. Turning the key toward her, she turned on just the battery and activated the headlights.

It stood right in front of the car, wings outstretched and teeth bared. It hissed and saliva dripped down its shinning teeth as it moved closer to the car. The lights from the headlights reflected off the smooth head and shone back into Rebecca's eyes. In a panic, she slammed on the brake and forced the car to start. As the engine roared, the alien screeched in fury, and Ronny opened his eyes. He stared at the alien groggily before the realization dawned on him and he opened his mouth. An agonizing wail spewed forth past his mouth just as the alien jumped, using its wings to propel it forward even faster. It collided with the front windshield, shattering it, and continued into the car compartment. Rebecca jerked back as the alien's teeth came within inches of her face. Her head made contact with the headrest, bounce back forward, and slam into the steering wheel. Stars danced in front of her eyes and she was slowly overcome by darkness. Ronny screamed, but Rebecca couldn't move. Her eyelids felt heavy and, with distain, she felt them closing against her will. Just as she blacked out, she felt something warm and wet run down her face from where she had hit the steering wheel.


	10. Meeting Ali

Rebecca regained consciousness to the sound of frantic breathing and crying. She shifted her body and was surprised to know that she was able to remove freely. She opened her eyes and saw herself staring at a strange, black ceiling of some kind. She sat up and looked around at the ground and walls, all of which were covered in the same kind of substance.

"Ronny!" Rebecca cried when she saw the little boy curled up in a corner of the room, if it could even be called a room.

"Rebecca, I'm scared!" Ronny said.

Rebecca crawled over on her hands and knees. "It's okay, don't worry, you're alright."

Ronny came out of the corner and reached out for Rebecca. She picked him up and held him close. He laid his head on her shoulder and sighed.

"My throat hurts," Ronny whispered.

"You've been screaming a lot, I'm sure you've just tired out your throat."

"But it hurts on the inside and the outside," Ronny replied.

"I think you'll be okay," Rebecca said and she tried to give him a reassuring smile, but she could only manage a strange grimace.

"Good, you're awake, now I don't have to wait anymore."

Rebecca whipped around to see the three siblings standing in an open passageway. But they weren't the ones to have spoken; it was the older woman standing behind them who looked like an older version of Heather. The woman's eyes were glowing darkly and she wore a small grin.

"Oh, sorry," Heather said, seeing Rebecca's stare, "This is our mother, Ali Wenstern."

"Why aren't we dead?" Rebecca asked.

Ali's lips parted in a wider smile, but it wasn't a warming smile, it was a smile of pure evil. "I hear you possess knowledge on the 'Creeper'. I would be very interested in hearing it."

"Why should I tell you? Why do you want to know about the Creeper?"

Ali's smile widened, giving Rebecca the creeps and she stepped forward. "Come with me, dear, and I will show you."

Rebecca looked at her in shock as Ali held out a hand. Her hand was pale and her fingernails were black and long. Ali laughed when she saw Rebecca eyeing her skeptically.

"Don't worry, human, I'm not going to kill you yet; you are still useful to me. But, if you don't want to come, I'm sure I can arrange a visit with my good friend, TJ."

"No!" Rebecca said frantically and she stood up.

Ali smiled. "Good, come with me then, and you can bring that child with you too."

Ronny gripped Rebecca tightly as Ali's three kids parted the way to allow their mother and Rebecca to pass.

"You never did answer my question," Rebecca asked.

"Nor have you answered mine," Ali replied, "But you will have your answer soon enough."

They stepped out into a larger chamber than the one they were in. Bile rose in Rebecca's throat as she looked at the walls. The bodies of a dozen or so people were attached to the walls, trapped in some kind of cocoon. Each person had a look of absolute terror on their face and a giant, bloody hole in their chests. An image of the old man in the barn flashed across Rebecca's eyes as she looked at the murdered people. She heard Ronny cry out and looked down. The boy was staring at the walls, taking in the dead bodies.

"Grandpa," he said.

Rebecca looked up and saw Dave. His head was slumped forward, a hole in his chest as well. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and forced Ronny to look away. But her eyes snapped open again when she heard the sound of eager hisses. The walls seemed to come alive as at least 2 dozen aliens moved and came closer to the small group.

"Ah, ah, ah, back up, my darlings, they're not on the menu, yet," Ali said, raising her hand. The aliens retreated back with disappointed hisses. "Oh," Ali said, speaking to Rebecca, "Stay away from those."

Rebecca looked around and saw a small group of a dozen or so strange-looking eggs sitting off to the side of the chamber. Many of the tops of them had been unfurled and were empty, but three were still closed. Rebecca gulped and held Ronny tighter, feeling the small boy trembling against her. Suddenly, there was a much louder hiss and Rebecca looked up, gasping as she did. Perched on an overhanging section of the chamber sat the flying alien. Its wings were tucked close to its body and its tail curled around its legs as it surveyed the group below it. It hissed more softly as Ali drew nearer.

"He's taken a fancy to Mom," Heather explained, looking up at the creature.

"You don't say," Rebecca replied.

"He doesn't like it when she's out of his sight."

"How come I've never heard of people disappearing before?" Rebecca asked as she tore her eyes away from the flying alien, "If you require us as vessels, how come the police don't know about the disappearances?"

"Because we're not originally from here," Ali said, "We're from a different state. The reason for that is because too many people would disappear and the police _would_ investigate. Here, we can just take what we need, disappear, and not worry about being tracked by the police."

"So why now?" Rebecca asked, she was curious.

"My children are getting ready to live on their own; leave my Hive and start Hives of their own. To start them off, I'm supplying their Hives with a good number of aliens. But, enough with that, I want you to tell me about the Creeper."

"Why do you want to know?"

"You see, when aliens are born, they take on some resemblance and characteristic of their host. Imagine my surprise when I find this fellow, flying around the sky," Ali said, looking up at the alien, "We've been calling him a Flyer because of a lack of a better name for him. Then, my children came back to me, telling me of a mutant demon who went by the name of Creeper. And then David came up with the name, Creepalien."

"So you want to know about the Creeper so you can gain some clue as to what that thing can do?"

"Yes," Ali said, "And you will tell me, or die right here and now."

"You promise that you will let me and Ronny go as soon as I tell you?"

Ali's smile curled, making Rebecca nervous. "Sure, you can both leave if I find your information suitable for my needs."

"Alright, well as you know it's called the Creeper. It can't be killed because it can use the body parts it devours to replace the ones it lost or needs. And the way if decides whose body part to take is by smelling the victim's fear. Once he's picked a target, he'll hunt it to the end of the Earth."

"Is that all?" Ali asked in a deadly voice.

Rebecca shuddered. "Yes, that's all I know."

"Wait a minute," a voice said, coming from the corner of the room, "I have a question."

Rebecca and Ronny both turned to look. _"How many more are there?" _Rebecca thought to herself.

A man stepped out of the darkness, wearing simple pants and a shirt that resembled the outfit David wore. In fact, David resembled the man so much that Rebecca could only assume that he was David's father.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Mike."

"He is my husband," Ali said.

"You-you-_married_ her?!"

"She's not all bad, once she warms up to you and you save her life from monstrous Predators."

Ali rolled her eyes. "What did you want to ask our guest?"

"Oh, right, well, surely something like this Creeper guy would eventually wipe out humanity?" Mike asked.

"Well, I guess it would," Rebecca said, "But I think that's why it only has 23 days to do that. And then it sleeps for 23 years."

"Well, that would have been nice to know _before_hand!" Ali said, her anger obviously growing. "Is _that_ all? Or am I going to have to keep you here for longer?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure that's everything this time!"

"Very well then, you may go."

"R-Really?"

"I promised you, didn't I? Now get out of here before I change my mind!"

Rebecca backed away and took off. As she ran away, she could hear Ali's high, cold laughter following her out.


	11. Hunted

"Why did you let them go?" Heather asked.

"Especially since one of them holds a baby inside of them," Timothy said, finishing Heather's sentence.

"Don't question my methods!" Ali said. She didn't need to shout, the tone of her voice was enough to cause the twins to twitch.

"You want the Creeper? Right?" David asked, "To create more Creepaliens."

"Very good, dear," Ali said.

"And you think that he's picked one of those two as a target?" Mike asked.

"I want David to accompany the Creepalien and follow those two, see where they're going and wait for the Creeper to show up."

"What about us?" Timothy asked, "Heather and I are older, we should be the ones to go with the Creepalien."

"But David is the only one who can actually understand what he'll be trying to say," Ali said, "And besides, I still have three more eggs left. I want the two of you to get three more hosts."

Timothy and Heather both gave David dark glares as TJ and two other aliens moved in next to them.

"Stop looking at me like that!" David said, backing away from his siblings.

Timothy stepped forward after his brother. "Don't mess this up, or Mom won't be the only one you'll have to hide from."

David shuddered as his brother stepped away. Before he could say anything else, the Creepalien screeched and spread his wings. He jumped to the air and slowly drifted down to the ground in front of David. David sighed and swung his leg over the Creepalien's back and settled in.

Ali's hand suddenly shot out and gripped David's upper arm tightly. "Timothy's right, David, you may be my son, but if you fail there will be serious consequences."

David nodded, too scared to answer. Once Ali had stepped out of the way, the Creepalien let out a hiss before raising his wings to their full extent and then pumping them down swiftly, launching into the air.

* * *

Rebecca glanced over her shoulder for the third time; still unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching them. But the vast landscape was empty. The sun was directly overhead, beating down on the back of Rebecca's neck with ferocious intensity. But she couldn't stop, she wouldn't, she had to keep going and make sure that she and Ronny stayed safe.

"Rebecca, I'm thirsty," Ronny said weakly, "And I'm hungry."

"Do you remember the way to get to town? Did your Grandfather ever tell you?" Rebecca regretted her question the moment it left her lips. Ronny's eyes brimmed up with tears as they shared a flashback to the Creepalien lifting Dave into the air and carrying him off.

"I think so."

"Is it far?"

Ronny looked around, his small eyes scanning the area, before pointing to a place off in the distance.

"I think it's that way."

Rebecca nodded and started walking. It hadn't been until Ronny had mentioned it that she realized just how hungry she was. She thought back to her last meal and remembered the breakfast of eggs and coffee. Right before the true nightmare had started.

Ronny whimpered. "Rebecca, I'm so hungry."

"I know, me too," Rebecca replied, "How does a nice hot fudge sundae sound when we get to town?"

Ronny nodded and shifted slightly in Rebecca's arms. Suddenly, a dark shadow moved across the sky and Rebecca looked up. The creature was directly in front of the sun and appeared only as an outline, making it hard to tell if it was the Creeper or the Creepalien. However, a horrible hiss answered the question as the Creepalien flapped its wings. However, it didn't make any attempt to attack; it only glided above them slowly, almost lazily. Rebecca pulled her eyes away and focused on walking. Finally, after about several hours, the Creepalien changed course and flew away. She hiked on for the rest of the day, watching warily as the sun continued to sink lower and lower into the sky. She knew being out at night was a bad idea, especially if that meant she would have two monsters coming after her and Ronny. She hurried her pace a little, glancing at the sky.

**A/N: I want to apologize ahead of time; new chapters aren't getting posted as often as I would like them. I'm trying to get better about it, but school's getting in the way a lot so I ask that you just be patient.**

**A little side note, but none the less interesting, my very good friend, Sonya Elizabeth is doing a little vlogging on YouTube in which she just chants about random stuff. Anyway, the main point is that I'm going to be making a guest appearance in her vlog sometime soon (I don't know a date yet) in which we'll talk about random stuff or about my stories, especially my favorite character in the world, Ali herself. So, yeah, just thought I'd let you know, more information will be posted on my profile page.**

**~Ali Wenstern**


	12. And So it Begins

Crickets chirped softly. The sun had gone down quicker than Rebecca had anticipated, leaving the two of them out in the middle of nowhere, with no shelter. However, Rebecca felt herself relaxing as the night pressed on and there was no sign of either enemy. But her relief was cut short as another shadow fell across them. She looked up slowly and, this time, the Creepalien was gliding along, underneath the full moon. Just when she was hoping it would continue to fly there, like it did during the day, the Creepalien folded its wings and dove to the ground. At the last second, its wings spread back out and halted its fall and allowed it to alight almost gracefully on the ground, a feat that Rebecca hadn't thought possible. Rebecca looked up to the rider and was surprised to see that it was David and not one of his older siblings.

"You?" Rebecca asked.

"Where is it?" David asked.

"Where's what?"

"The Creeper! We've been following you all day, waiting for it. Where is it?!"

"I don't know!" Rebecca shouted, "Probably still digesting my _boy_friend!"

"He's after you, right?"

"Why do you care?"

"Why do you think? Look at this creature, Mom was ecstatic when it showed up and even more excited when we told her that the Creeper couldn't die."

"Wait, you want it to make more, right?" Rebecca asked, horrified.

"Why else?" David answered.

"Look, I'm not going to say that I appreciate the Creeper, or think that what it does is right, but you can't hold it prisoner and torture it forever!"

"What makes you think it hurts?" David asked in a snide voice.

"I saw when that _thing_ was first born. I know what happens when someone gets im—im_pregnated _with it! The thing _bursts_ out of the person's chest! That has to be painful!"

"Well you are right, it's very painful," David said, "The baby isn't only bursting out, it's _eating_ its way out. Just imagine that, will you? Dozens of sharp teeth piercing through your chest—!"

"Stop it!" Rebecca cried, covering Ronny's ears.

"I'd think you'd be a little more concerned or curious about the process, seeing as one of you is a parent right now," David said with a grin.

Rebecca looked up at him in shock and then looked down at Ronny. The little boy was terrified and clutching the front of her shirt in fear. "Which one?" she asked.

"I don't think I'll tell you, I think I'll let you figure it out on your own," David said, his eyes on Rebecca.

"Please, please no!"

David shrugged. "There's nothing I can do so why don't you just shut up?!"

Suddenly, something large crashed into the side of the Creepalien. David was caught off guard, having been distracted by Rebecca, and he didn't see the attack coming. He grunted as he was thrown from the Creepalien's back and crashed into the ground. Rebecca dodged out of the way as the twisting mass of bodies rolled past her. Two pairs of wings flew out to their full length and the two fighting monsters rose into the sky. They pulled apart and the Creepalien hissed at the Creeper. The Creeper stared back silently, the wound that it had received from TJ completely healed.

"Well well, didn't think it would stay away for too long," David said as he looked up at the sky, watching the two creatures.

However, the Creeper wasn't interested in the Creepalien; he turned around and zeroed in on Rebecca. Locking his wings in close to his body, he began to dive. The Creepalien seemed confused at this tactic and was hesitant to respond. By the time he finally started to fall, the Creeper was almost upon Rebecca, who had just regained the use of her legs and started to run.

Rebecca's breath was quick and short as she tore across the ground. She could hear the sound of the leathery wings getting closer and could feel the draft as the wind was stirred up around the Creeper's wings.

"No!" she cried when she felt the Creeper's arms wrapping around her waist.

**A/N: The date for my vlog interview has been decided! Check out my profile page for more details.**


	13. Goodnight

The Creeper's dry and scaly hands made Rebecca's skin crawl as it brushed against hers. Her feet left the ground kicking and, in her panic, her grip on Ronny loosened. The small boy screamed as he lost his grip on Rebecca's shirt and plummeted to the ground. Luckily, the Creeper hadn't gotten too high off the ground yet, so Ronny wasn't badly hurt when he fell. Rebecca kicked and beat at the Creeper's hands, but the Creeper's vice-like grip wouldn't relinquish.

"Let me go!" Rebecca begged.

But the Creeper's grip only tightened more, his arms crushing into her stomach and making her gasp in pain. Suddenly, the Creepalien appeared out of nowhere and crashed into the Creeper, causing him to drop Rebecca. Rebecca screamed as she fell, but her fall was cut off swiftly as something grabbed her ankle. Her head whipped to the side as she was pulled off in a different direction. She managed to catch a glimpse of black wings and a long tail before the Creeper attacked and she was dropped for the second time. She landed hard on her back and she heard something cracking. She gasped as the air rushed out of her body and tried to roll over, but her side flared up in pain. She moaned and lay flat, looking up at the giant flying beasts attacking one another.

"Rebecca?" Ronny asked.

She looked over to see him crawling over to him.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

Rebecca took a deep breath and pushed herself up, ignoring the pain. "No," she lied, "Are you?"

Ronny shook his head. Rebecca got to her feet and reached down. She grimaced as Ronny pushed up against her side. She knew then that she had to have either broken or cracked at least one of her ribs.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ronny asked.

Rebecca nodded and started backing away slowly. She didn't know where David was, but she hoped he was distracted so she could get away.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Rebecca jumped in shock and cried out in pain. She dropped Ronny and clutched her side as the pain intensified.

"Looks like you broke a rib or two," David said with amusement.

"Please, what do you want from us?" Rebecca asked.

"One of you will be giving birth soon," David said, "And I don't want to run the risk of losing it just yet."

"Then let Ronny go! Please, just let him go!"

David grinned. "What makes you so sure it's you?"

Rebecca looked down slowly at Ronny. He remained silent, but he looked up at Rebecca with a look of pain.

"Ronny? Are you okay?"

"My chest hurts really bad," Ronny moaned.

Rebecca looked up to see David smirking. "Why? Why him? He's just a little kid! Why not me?"

"Because, Mom was under the impression that you could be used as bait for the Creeper, she didn't want you dying too quickly. She was also pretty mad at you for getting away with the little snot the first time. She thought that having him die on you would be suitable punishment."

There was a loud screech from the sky and Rebecca and David both looked up at the same time just in time to see the Creeper and Creepalien crash into the ground, creating a giant dust cloud. Rebecca took the moment to scoop Ronny back up in her arms, running as fast as she could despite her broken rib.

"Suit yourself," David shouted after them, "But I thought you would have preferred to die at our hands, not be devoured in _his_ hands."

Rebecca ignored him and continued running, wanting to get as far away from the chaos as possible.

"Rebecca! Stop, it hurts!" Ronny cried.

Rebecca immediately came to a halt and set Ronny down on the ground. He screamed the moment his feet hit the ground and his hands flew to his chest, grasping and clawing at his shirt. Clutching her own side in pain, Rebecca pulled Ronny's shirt over his head to get a better look on his chest. She had to keep in a gasp as she watched the small lump rise in Ronny's chest, causing him to scream in pain. She had a flash back to the Creepalien bursting out of the Creeper's chest and hot tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"Come here," She said, pulling Ronny into his arms and holding him tight.

"It hurts so bad!" Ronny cried, "Make it stop."

"It will stop, in a few seconds," Rebecca said, "You won't feel anything after that."

"Why are you still here?" Ronny asked.

"What?"

"You could get away."

Rebecca grimaced. "No I can't; I got hurt pretty badly and I don't know if I'll make it very far."

Ronny was about to respond when his eyes scrunched up in pain and a loud crack split the air. Rebecca held him tighter as another crack erupted. Ronny screamed and Rebecca did too as pain unlike anything she had ever felt roared in her chest as well. The world swam around her as a small, high pitched screech rose into the air. She glanced down slowly and saw a blood slick body of the small alien, coming out of Ronny's chest and disappearing into her own. She felt blood trickling down her chin and she looked at Ronny. His eyes were empty and glassy and his mouth hung slack. He was dead.

"Ronny," Rebecca chocked out, blood bubbled out of her mouth, gagging her as she slipped closer to death.

She gave a final gasp before slumping forward over Ronny. The last thing she heard was the baby alien, screeching loudly.


	14. A Situation

David stepped up as the chestburster pulled its way out of Rebecca's back. It screeched and ran over to David, curling up close to his feet. He reached down and picked it up, his eyes not leaving the dead victims.

"It's a shame, isn't it?" David said. The alien looked up at him and hissed. "She would have made a good host."

He looked back at the sky where the Creepalien and Creeper were a tangle mass of bodies. Suddenly, they pulled apart, both screeching in pain. Thin tendrils of smoke rose into the air as the Creepalien's blood fell to the ground and began to burn. The Creeper wasn't fairing too well either, with several long gashes running down his chest. The Creepalien looked down at the smoke rising from the ground before turning its gaze back to the Creeper and screeching. It flew at the Creeper again, soaring over the Creeper's head. The Creeper howled in pain and covered his face with his hands as droplets of the Creepalien's blood landed on him. He rolled around in the sky, still howling, flying back and forth. The Creepalien took advantage of the Creeper's pain and slammed into its back. The Creeper screeched again and slammed into the ground.

"Wait!" David shouted when he saw the Creepalien going in for the kill.

The Creepalien hissed and stepped back. David moved in closer and studied the Creeper. It was lying face down in the ground, one of its wings was crumbled and the other was stretched out. David moved carefully, knowing that it wasn't dead and could move at any moment.

"Get it back to the Hive," David said.

The Creepalien hissed.

"No, I don't think Mom would like that, she wants it alive."

The Creepalien hissed again.

"Well I'm sure we can find someone to replace the body parts you need."

The Creepalien gave a satisfied hiss and picked up the Creeper. David climbed up on the Creepalien's back and it shot up into the air.

* * *

"Very good, David," Ali said approvingly when David flew into the Hive on the back of the Creepalien.

Heather and Timothy both threw daggers at their younger brother as he slid off the Creepalien's back. Praise coming from their mother was rare, and when she did award it, it was usually to either of the twins. Even though they were siblings, David didn't doubt that they would attack him if they really wanted to. And the fact that Timothy was slowly twirling the handle of a broken shovel he had found only added to David's fears of his siblings attacking him.

"Don't look that way," Ali said to her eldest children, "You provided the hosts."

"Yeah," David said, "Why do you always have to make me feel bad?"

"Because you're normal," Timothy said.

He stopped twirling the shovel and tossed it to the side. David relaxed slightly as the shovel fell away from his brother, but didn't lower his guard entirely, knowing his brother could retrieve it in the blink of an eye.

"That's enough!" Ali said as David opened his mouth to speak back. Her sons instantly shut their mouths and looked down as her voice rang with anger.

"So, we've got the Creeper, but what are we going to do with him?" Heather asked finally.

"Breed," Ali said.

"But we already finished off the last of the eggs we brought with us," Heather replied, "The only logical thing we can do is bring him back with us."

"No, bringing him back would be too risky; if he got out he could disrupt our territory."

"So what do we do?" Timothy asked, finally recovering from the shock of being yelled at.

"Mike?" Ali called.

Mike stepped out of the shadows and approached his wife. "Yes?"

"Would you accompany TJ back to the Imperial Hive and tell me daughter that we need some more eggs?"

"I'd love to," Mike said, "How many would you suggest?"

"Four or five," Ali replied.

"We'll leave as soon as we can."

"Leave now," Ali said, "The sooner you leave the sooner you can get back."

Mike nodded and TJ stepped out quickly to join him.

"But Mom," Timothy said, "It'll take at least ten days to get there and back."

"The Creeper will already be in slumber," Heather added.

Ali tilted her head to the side. "And you are both thinking, considering the Creepalien's similarity so far to the Creeper, that it will fall asleep too?"

Heather shook her head. "Well no, actually, we just thought that if the Creeper was hibernating, you wouldn't be able to use it for hosts."

"But, now that you mention it," Timothy said, "What happens if the Creepalien _did_ fall asleep on us?"

Ali's eyes grew narrower. She turned away from her children and husband and walked over to where the Creepalien was perched. It hissed and spread its wings, alighting off its perch and soaring down to Ali's side. Ali took its head in her hands and held its face close to hers.

"He's so perfect," Ali said, "In fact, I've always dreamed of creating something like him."

"Mom?"

There was a loud screech, interrupting Heather, and all heads turned to a corner of the room. The Creeper had woken up and was thrashing around in his cocoon. His eyes fixed onto Ali, who grinned and he howled louder.

"Rise and shine," Ali said, "Welcome to my Hive."

The Creeper hissed at her.

"You don't speak English, do you?" Ali said, cocking her head to the side, "Or is it that you _do_, but choose not to?"

The Creeper flashed sharp teeth, but didn't say anything.

"I suppose you're wondering why you're here? Well, as much as I'd love to tell you, I feel that you deserve a surprise."

The Creeper roared and twisted inside the cocoon, trying to break out. His gaze pulled away from Ali and fell on the Creepalien, growling at it. The Creepalien hissed in return and stepped forward.

"They're not going to get along, are they," Timothy noted.

"Unfortunately not," David replied, "The Creepalien is just a little annoyed that its host hasn't died like hosts are supposed to."

"But that's good news for us, then," Heather said, "All the more breeding."

"Didn't I just say that we weren't going to have enough time for that?" Ali snapped.

"Yes, well, I was just thinking…" Heather stuttered.

She never had the chance to finish her sentence as the Creeper let out a loud howl and thrashed around. The resin surrounding his body shattered apart as its brown wings unfurled. The Creepalien screeched and jumped forward, but Ali moved faster and she was soon standing between the Creeper and the Creepalien in an attempt to keep them apart. Both creatures looked at her in shock, but that didn't last long. The Creeper hissed and shot forward, its wings sweeping out to carry it faster. The Creepalien followed suit and Ali had to duck to avoid being collided into by the two monsters. The Creeper and Creepalien tore at each other, rolling around and crashing into the walls of the Hive, making it crumble. Ali looked up as fragments and dust fell from the ceiling before turning to her husband and children on the other side of the fighting beasts.

"Get out!" she cried.

Mike forced the three siblings back toward the exit, looking over his shoulder as he did. The monsters were still going at it, more ferociously than ever, and large portions of the ceiling began coming down.

"Timothy, Heather, David, get the Warriors outside, hurry!"

"What about you?" David asked.

"I'm going back for Ali!"

"No, let us go," Timothy said, "We'll fare better than you will."

"She's my wife!" Mike said.

"And she's our mother!" Timothy retorted.

"Timothy, come on, let's go!" Heather said, tugging on her brother's sleeve.

"No! I'm not going to lose both of my parents to a cave-in," Timothy said, shaking his sister's hand off.

"And I won't lose my son," Mike responded, "Now go!"

A loud crash ripped the air as the Creeper and Creepalien collided into the already weak ceiling, cutting everyone off and causing them to look up. A second later, and without warning, the entire ceiling came down. Mike pushed his children through the opening and jumped after them. There was a loud crash and a huge dust cloud rose into the air. The sound of more than a dozen aliens screeching rose up into the air, but there was silence coming from within the large cavern.

Mike shoved off the medium sized piece of debris that had fallen on top of him and looked over his shoulder. The area behind them was now open and exposed to the outside elements. The light of the moon cast down upon the wreckage. There was a heavy silence and not a single thing moved.


	15. Sacrifice

Timothy got to his feet, coughing at the amount of dust that had gotten into his lungs. He looked at the wreckage before him and cried out, "Mom!" but there was no answer.

"Ali?" Mike tried.

Timothy moved past his sister and brother as they started to get up and moved slowly into the large opening. Suddenly, a piece of debris shook before rising up slowly. Timothy moved closer, thinking it was his mother, but it was leathery skin that caught the moonlight.

The Creeper got to its feet slowly, dazed, and turned to Timothy. Its teeth flashed and it let out a growl. Timothy glared at it and stepped forward. His foot connected with something that clattered and he looked down, eyeing the tossed shovel.

"You're going to pay!" he shouted as he reached down and grabbed the shovel.

The Creeper cocked its head to the side as it studied the shovel. Timothy gripped it tightly, glaring. The Creeper hissed and moved forward, but kept its distance just out of reach of the shovel.

"Come on," Timothy taunted, "Come and get me."

The Creeper bared its teeth in anger and spread its wings, rocketing into the air. Timothy tracked its movements carefully, keeping it in his direct line of sight. As the Creeper started to come back down, Timothy raised the shovel high and waited. When the Creeper was within a few feet, he hurled the shovel with all his strength. It connected and blasted through the shoulder of the Creeper, throwing him backwards. The Creeper howled as it smashed into the pile of debris, the shovel remaining stuck in its shoulder. Timothy ran after the Creeper, ignoring his family's protests.

He slowed when he neared the Creeper's body, moving cautiously. The Creeper lay still, its eyes and mouth were open wide. Timothy grabbed the shovel and yanked it out. The Creeper let out a small howl and its body twitched.

"Die!" Timothy cried as he raised the shovel high.

As the shovel started to arc down toward the Creeper's chest, there was a loud crash and some of the debris exploded upwards nearby. Timothy looked up to see the Creepalien rising out of the rubble, clutching something in its arms. Timothy didn't get a clear view before he was suddenly kicked in the chest and knocked back; he had momentarily forgotten about the Creeper. The Creeper struggled to its feet and looked over at the Creepalien. From this point of view, Timothy could easily see the unconscious figure in the Creepalien's arms.

"Mom!"

Ali's eyes cracked open slightly, but it was hard to tell if she was still unconscious or just waking up. The Creepalien hissed as the Creeper flew at it and beat its wings, shooting up into the air and holding tight to Ali. The Creeper hissed and tried getting in another attack, but the Creepalien avoided him again. It occurred to Timothy that the Creepalien could easily return a counterattack on the Creeper if it wanted to, but the reason it wasn't was because it had Ali in its arms; the Creepalien was more concerned about protecting Ali than attacking the Creeper head on.

"Timothy! The Creepalien's got Mom!" Heather said, coming up next to him.

"But he's not trying to hurt her, he's trying to protect her," Timothy stated as the Creepalien avoided another attack.

This attack took the Creeper closer to Timothy and a rash idea suddenly popped in his head. He moved forward and watched the Creeper's attacks carefully, calculating how long it would take before the Creeper would be on top of him.

"What are you doing?" Heather asked, but Timothy ignored her.

Just then, as the Creeper once again rocketed underneath the Creepalien, it flew over Timothy's head. Timothy watched it as it turned itself in the middle of air and tried again. However, just as the Creeper flew over Timothy, Timothy jumped into the air and caught the Creeper's rear leg. The Creeper howled in shock at the extra heavy weight on its leg. Its trajectory was thrown off and it missed the Creepalien by a few feet. But the Creepalien was no longer a concern of the Creeper, the pest hanging from its back leg was the problem now.

"Get out of here!" Timothy shouted to his sister as she started to run after him, "Get Dad and David out of here!"

The Creeper's howling forced Timothy to take his eyes off his sister as he focused on holding on tightly to its leg. He saw a black blur shoot by him and focused on the blur as it sailed over the ruins; it was the Creepealien and it was still holding on to Ali. Just then, claws dug up his back and Timothy tilted his head back, crying out in pain. Suddenly, he was falling and he looked down to see the cave-in debris rushing up to meet him. He tried to shift out of the way, but he couldn't move fast enough and he gritted his teeth as the sharp, jutting rock jammed him in the back. The Creeper took to the sky again, with Timothy just hanging on. He looked out to see the Creepalien as nothing more than a dot and knew that he had given it enough of a head start to escape with his mother. He sighed and allowed the tugging darkness to overcome him. His fingers loosened on the Creeper's legs and he fell again.


	16. Getting Help

Timothy slid down the pipe and hit the ground, creating a small puff cloud. He surveyed the scenery around him, taking in the hundred of bodies surrounding the rooms, making up the walls and ceilings. He walked around, studying the rest of the room. There seemed to be a work table where several strange instruments lay, making it look like a morbid doctor's office. A body was standing up straight, supported by stakes, near the table. Timothy moved closer and looked into the holes in the young boy's face. He raised his eyebrows and moved away. Just then, there was a loud rustling sound and something came through a side entrance in the back. Timothy moved to the open area of the lair and waited. Before long, the Creeper stepped out of the shadows, stopping in its tracks when it saw Timothy.

Timothy grinned. "Hey."

The Creeper hissed, but didn't move.

"Listen," Timothy said, taking a step forward, "I need your help with something, and you _will_ help me."

The Creeper growled and spread its wings. It hopped into the air and launched forward. Timothy waited and held out his hand, catching the Creeper by its throat and halting it. He slammed the Creeper into the wall of bodies, pinning him there. He smiled as surprise filled the Creeper's eyes; shocked at Timothy's strength.

"Nice place you got here," Timothy said, "Seems you share a similar interest with our family; decorating your walls with your dead victims too." The Creeper didn't respond and Timothy tightened his grip on its throat. "You're going to tell me where my mother is!"

The Creeper hissed and its nostrils flared, as well as the hole on the bridge of its nose. Timothy watched with narrowed eyes.

"You want a taste of me? Go ahead, take a bite," he said, letting go of the Creeper and raising his arm.

The Creeper didn't hesitate as he grabbed Timothy's wrist and brought his arm closer to his face, smelling him. He opened his mouth, about to bite, but seemed a little uneasy.

"Not hungry?"

The Creeper hissed and bit down hard on Timothy's bared forearm. Timothy gritted his teeth as pain burned up his arm, but it didn't last for long as the Creeper suddenly pulled away, gasping and spitting.

"Oh, right," Timothy said, "Did I forget to tell you I have acidic blood?"

The Creeper spit again and backed away from Timothy.

"Where're you going?" Timothy asked, stepping forward. He grabbed the Creeper again, squeezing off its air. "I know you can speak English! You've been around humans long enough to pick up on their language! So, can you speak it or not?!"

The Creeper's mouth gapped open as it gasped for breath. "Y-yes!"

Timothy let go and stepped back. "Good, you can."

"What do you want from me?" The Creeper asked.

"I want my mother."

"I don't know where she is," The Creeper responded.

"You know where the Creepalien is!"

The Creeper shook its head. "I don't know where it makes roost."

"Could you find it?"

"What's in it for me?"

Timothy took another step back. He had a feeling that the Creeper would request something like this. He looked up at the pipe that he had come through, barely able to see his sister above. He nodded to her and she disappeared for a moment before coming back into view, carrying a body. The body was dropped down the pipe and Timothy caught the young girl.

"We thought this might suffice, even _we_ could smell her fear," Timothy said, dropping the girl at the Creeper's feet.

The Creeper crouched down and grabbed the girl by her throat, pulling her close and smelling her. The girl let out a small sound as her head was pulled back. The Creeper's third nostril on the bridge of its nose flared as it took a deep whiff. "She will do," he replied.

"Good."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to find the Creepalien before you go to sleep," Timothy responded.

"I haven't seen that thing in a few days, ever since _you_ prevented me from following after it."

"Sorry, but my mother was with it, I didn't want you to hurt her."

The Creeper hissed. "Your mother is the most unusual creature I have ever encountered. She has no smell around her; she doesn't fear me."

"There's little that my mother fears, unless it's something that could possibly harm her family."

"I'm a very dangerous threat," The Creeper responded.

Timothy shook his head. "I'm not talking about us, her human family, I'm talking about her alien family."

"Most of the humans I have encountered have shown a desire to protect the family members that I have selected; how is it that your mother cares more for those creatures than her own flesh and blood?"

"Because they came first," Timothy shrugged, "She's known them longer and they care for her as much as a family does. And it's not like she doesn't love us, she just doesn't express it in many ways and she doesn't like to go easy on us; if we fail, she gets mad."

"And if I were to find her," The Creeper said, "What will become of the...Creepalien, as you called it? Is that supposed to be some variation of my own name?"

"Yeah, my brother came up with the name, because it was born from you. Anyway, Mom is kind of fond of the Creepalien, but we were trying to figure out if he hibernated in a matter that you did. Unfortunately, he doesn't even know."

"You would know in a couple of days; I only have four days left before I return to my sleep."

"Right," Timothy said, "So you better find her fast."

The Creeper hissed but moved back to the secondary entrance. "This way," he said.


	17. The Rescue

"Are you sure this is the place?" Timothy asked.

The Creeper nodded. "I am not one to roost in high places, I like the underground, but the higher spots have always been in consideration; I'd be closer to the sky, making it easier to find prey."

They were standing at the base of a large mountain, different from the one the temporary Hive had been set up on. The Creeper had managed to find this place within two days, meaning today was their last day for them to find where the Creepalien was roosting.

"So can you smell anything?" Timothy asked.

The Creeper shook his head. "If you don't smell anything, than I defiantly won't. I smell the fear, remember?"

"Right," Timothy said, "Well, I guess we could look."

"You expect me to still help you?" The Creeper asked.

"Sure, that'd be great," Timothy said with a sarcastic smile.

The Creeper growled. "I'm going to require more payment."

Timothy nodded. "Alright."

He gestured to Heather and she went around to the car they had brought along with them. She popped open the trunk and reached in. A second later she pulled out a kicking boy. She dragged the struggling boy over the Creeper and dropped it at his feet.

"Satisfactory?" she asked.

The Creeper crouched down and took a whiff of the boy's scent. His eyes rolled into the back of its head, showing the whites. "Yes," he replied.

"Good, now fly up there and tell me what you see," Timothy said.

"Perhaps you'd like to come see for yourself," The Creeper replied.

Timothy gave a coy smile, considering it, but something clamped onto his arm. When he looked over he saw his sister was still standing next to him, her hand tightened around his arm.

"Go wait at the car, Heather," he said.

Heather dragged her brother off to the side, despite his protests. "I'm still expressing my concern about trusting him," she said in a low voice.

"I'll decide who to trust," Timothy said.

Heather snorted. "You don't trust anyone, not even your own mother."

"So?"

"So, what if he's leading you into a trap?"

"What's he going to do? He's already had a taste of me and he doesn't like the taste of acid."

"Still, I don't think—"

"Yeah, well, I wasn't asking for your opinion," Timothy said, shaking his sister's hold of him, "I'm going to get Mom back, no matter what!"

"But—"

"Get back to the car!" Timothy shouted.

Heather glowered at her brother, but followed his orders and moved back to the car where David, Mike, and TJ were waiting. Mike gave his son a concerned look, but Timothy turned away. He wasn't going to go back on this deal with the Creeper, not until he found his mother. He heard TJ hiss, but ignored Ali's friend too.

"Are you ready?" the Creeper asked.

"Yes," Timothy responded, facing the Creeper.

The Creeper grinned, flashing sharp teeth. "You've ever flown before?"

Timothy forced the unease to recede in his chest. "No," he responded.

The Creeper's grin widened. He lurched out suddenly, gripping Timothy tightly by the shoulders. He spun him around quickly, knocking him off balance and then wrapped his arms around his waist. The ground disappeared in a whoosh as the Creeper jumped into the sky. Timothy grabbed at the Creeper's arms, holding on tight as the Creeper picked up speed, the ground whizzing beneath him.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Stop moving," The Creeper said, "You're making it hard to fly."

"What are you doing?!" he shouted again, still struggling.

The Creeper halted in mid-air, is large wings the only sound as they continued pumping up and down to hold him steady. In a flash, the Creeper had Timothy by the neck, holding him out in front of him. Timothy grasped at the Creeper's hand as the oxygen was choked out of him. He looked down at his flailing feet to see the ground far below him. He looked back up to gaze at the Creeper, gasping as he tried to breath.

"I said stop moving!" The Creeper said.

Timothy opened his mouth, trying to get enough oxygen to stay conscious. "Let go of me," he breathed.

The Creeper smiled and opened his hand, releasing Timothy. Timothy's eyes widened as he suddenly plummeted to the ground. He looked over his shoulder as the ground zoomed up fast, coming up to meet him. At the last second, something grabbed his ankle, breaking his fall and carried him back up into the sky.

"What are you doing?" Timothy asked, trying to look up at the Creeper in his upside down position.

"Why were you struggling?" the Creeper asked.

"I didn't know what you were doing," Timothy said, blood rushing to his head, "You didn't really give much of a warning when you grabbed me."

"We are in an agreement, as of the moment, I wouldn't hurt you," the Creeper said.

"Sorry," Timothy said, "don't trust you.

"The only way we can get along is if you trust me."

"I've lived my whole life trusting no one, as taught to me by my mother, what makes you think I can just change all that because you told me to?"

"It's your only choice."

"Fine," Timothy said, "I trust you, for now."

The Creeper grinned and released his grip on Timothy's leg. To Timothy's surprise, he didn't fall far, he only fell about two feet onto a flat surface of rock.

"What's going on?" Timothy asked.

He got to his feet, grunting as his back ached slightly from his fall.

"This is where your mother and the creature are hiding," The Creeper said.

"Oh," Timothy said.

However, when he looked around, he could find no signs of an entrance of any kind.

"The entrance is just below us," The Creeper said before Timothy could ask.

Timothy nodded in understanding and walked to the rocky ledge. He looked over as carefully as he could and did indeed see a small hole in the wall of the mountain. His next thought was how to get there, but he supposed the Creeper had an answer to that.

"What're you going to suggest?" he asked anyway.

"From the short glance I got of it, it seems to be a chute that would send you sliding down into the lower level, where your mother and the creature are. I was planning on dropping you down straight into the hole first, and then I would follow behind."

Timothy grew a little uneasy. "Are you sure?"

"You said you trusted me, right?"

"Yeah, sorry, old habits."

The Creeper nodded and reached out, grabbing Timothy by his shoulders. He then soared over to the hole and dropped Timothy down inside. Timothy slid down the short shaft and landed in a small cavern. The Creepalien was definitely here; the walls, floors, and ceilings were coated in the black resin substance that marked a Hive. Noise from behind him alerted him to the Creeper coming through the shaft and he shifted out of the way so the Creeper wouldn't run into him.

"So, I guess this is it," the Creeper said as he got to his feet and studied the walls around him, "This looks the same as the Hive that you had kept me in before."

"Yeah," Timothy said, "This is it."

"Well, where's your mother?"

"I don't know, this cavern is bigger than just this tiny room, she's probably in another area. Can't you smell anything?"

The Creeper growled. "How many times do I have to tell you that I smell fear in a person? Your mother doesn't fear me, therefore I can't smell her. Besides, weren't you the one with the good sense of smell to begin with?"

"Yeah, and I can smell something, but it's hard to tell the direction; there's a lot of tunnels around here."

"Well, start with one and see where it leads."

"Fine," Timothy said and he started moving forward, but stopped when the Creeper followed him. "You're coming too?"

The Creeper bared his teeth. "You don't get to get rid of me that easily, boy," he said, "I have a score to settle with that creature of yours."

"Fine," he said and he turned around, mumbling under his breath, "Mom's not going to like this."

"She doesn't have to like it," The Creeper said.

Timothy sighed, but started walking down the narrow tunnel. Just then, a strong smell entered Timothy's nose and he recognized the scent instantly; the Creepalien.

"We're getting close," he said.

They reached a turn in the tunnel and when they rounded the corner, they were faced with a large cavern that had been transformed into a Hive for one.

"Mom?" Timothy called. The Hive looked empty.

"Are they here?"

"Yeah, they're here, I can smell Mom and the Creepalien clearly now."

Just then, there was a loud screech from above and a shadow swooped over them. Timothy ducked and he heard something solid collide with the Creeper. He loooked over his shoulder just in time to catch a glimpse of a shiny head before the two rolled off into the Hive.

"You got here quicker than I thought," a voice said directly behind Timothy.

Timothy turned around. "Mom!" he exclaimed, "You were expecting us?"

"Not for a couple more days or so," Ali answered, "I was thinking that I would be waiting, with the Creepalien sleeping away beside me. By the way, what is that beast doing with you?"

"Oh, the Creeper? Well, we figured that he'd be able to help us find you. I kind of had to promise him the Creepalien in order to get him to help us."

"Well, he can have it," Ali said, her eyes dark, "That thing has been a pain ever since he brought me here. He's a little overprotective of me and thinks that it's too dangerous outside his Hive for me."

"So what are you going to do?"

"We're not going to be able to leave without him noticing," Ali said, "We're just going to have to wait."

"What happens if they kill each other first?"

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem," Ali said, "They can sustain a multitude of injuries with little problem, as long as they can find a human to fix themselves up. No, the best thing to do right now is to wait for them to finally fall asleep."

"Do you know exactly when that'll happen?"

"Soon, I would guess, the Creepalien has been telling me that it's getting ready to hibernate."

"Yeah, the Creeper told us that it would be today, but he didn't say if it was evening or later."

"Well," Ali said, sitting down, "We'll just have to let them fight themselves to sleep."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep." Ali patted a spot on the ground next to her, "We're sitting this one out."


	18. 23 Years of Slumber

Timothy was aware of someone nudging him and he initially tried to ignore it and drift off to sleep again, but a sharp slap startled him, followed by an aggravated voice.

"Timothy, wake up!"

Timothy jolted upright and looked around. "What's going on? Is it over?"

"I think it's almost finished," Ali said.

Timothy looked around and his eyes instantly fell on the two struggling masses, moving sluggishly now as their slumber started to creep up on them. From what he could tell, however, if their time wasn't up, the Creepalien would have won the fight; it had the Creeper pinned beneath it and the Creeper's neck, chest, and legs were oozing blood with the Creepalien only sustaining minor injuries. Suddenly, the Creepalien pushed off the Creeper with a screech, soaring upwards toward the ceiling. It came to rest on a large overhang, directly above the Creeper, and crouched there, its wings half-folded and arched close to its body.

The Creeper remained where it was, spread eagle on the ground, and only moved as it tried to tuck its wings in under its body. Its chest rose and fell slowly, giving the only indication that it was still alive.

"It's started," Ali said.

Timothy looked down toward the Creeper as it let out a rumbling groan. Something on its head began moving and crawling along its head. It took Timothy a while to realize that the thing moving was a large, clawed, mandible that had obviously been a part of the Creeper. It moved slowly, covering the sides and top of the Creeper's face before settling around the rest of its face and sealing up tightly. As soon as its face was closed up, the Creeper's chest stopped moving, but Timothy knew that it was still alive.

Above, the Creepalien let out a final hiss before bringing its head closer to its body. Its wings wrapped slowly around its body, one by one, until it was completely sealed inside a tight cocoon. Finally, its tail curved around in front of it and wrapped around its legs before it finally went still.

"So is it over?"

"Yes," Ali said, "We can leave now."

"What about the Creepalien? I know you're disappointed about his hibernation habits, but I thought you always wanted one like him."

Ali smiled. "I did, but if I have to wait every 23 years in order to see him, I'm better off looking for alternative ways."

"If you're sure."

"Besides, I don't want one that clings to me like a lost pet, I want one that's independent and can function on its own."

"Fine, then we'll keep looking."

Ali nodded and walked out of the Hive, followed by Timothy. They walked through the tunnel in silence until the first rays of daylight started to shine up ahead.

"There's just one problem," Timothy said.

"What is it?"

They stepped out of the tunnel into the beginnings of morning. Ali walked over to the steep drop in front of them and looked down.

"Getting down." Timothy said.

Ali laughed and started weaving her way down carefully, her arms poised and ready to catch herself if she were to fall. Timothy followed her down slowly, looking over the edge to see the car and his family waiting.

Timothy jumped down the short distance to the ground after several minutes of careful downward climbing. Mike had immediately embraced Ali when she had jumped down, and she didn't break away. Heather and David came up to him as he brushed some dust of his shirt.

"Good job, Timothy," David said.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, not bad," Heather added.

"So, where are they?" David asked.

"Hibernating," Ali answered, pulling away from Mike, "We're leaving."

"Are you sure?" Mike asked.

"Yes," Ali said. She moved to the car, stopped, and peered into the back window. "What's this?"

She opened the car door and dragged out the small boy. He was staring up at Ali in complete fear, his body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"Oh," Timothy said, "He was a bribe to get the Creeper to help us, but the Creeper's asleep…"

Ali smiled down at the boy, who shuddered. "Well, what shall we do with him?"

"Let him go," Mike said.

"We could use a host, couldn't we?"

"No, we don't have any eggs with us and I don't want to be in charge of a whinning kid all the way back home," Timothy said.

Ali sighed. "Fine," she tossed the kid aside. He landed hard on his side and made a small cry of pain. "Run along, boy, before I kill you right now."

The small boy cried out louder and scrambled to his feet and ran off as fast as he could.

Ali laughed and got into the front passenger seat. "I love being me."

Timothy sighed as his father got into the driver's seat and Heather and David fought for the window seat; one window seat was already reserved for him because he was the oldest. He slid into the seat behind Mike's and rolled down his window. Heather had managed to use her age to get the window seat as well, leaving David to pout in the middle. The car started and Timothy leaned his head against the window and watched the large mountain, bleached a deep fiery red by the rising sun, where two of the greatest predators slept, slowly disappear in the distance.


End file.
